[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 111 (Thursday, July 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S8865]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     TRIBUTE TO JOHN DAVIS AND HIS MANY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CITY 
                             OF BURLINGTON

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, in every community there is someone who has 
changed the direction of events, who has shaped the future of its 
residents. Burlington, VT has John Davis. This month John is saying 
goodbye to the City of Burlington's Community and Economic Development 
Office CEDO where he has spent the last 10 years making Burlington a 
better place to live and work. As Housing Director for most of that 
period John has worked to make affordable housing a reality for 
countless low and moderate income people living in Vermont's most 
expensive housing market. Since 1994 John has also been the driving 
force behind the effort to revitalize Burlington's Old North End 
through its designation as Vermont's only Enterprise Community.
  When President Clinton first announced the Empowerment Zone and 
Enterprise Community Initiative, John was quick to see the opportunity 
to turn around the decline of Burlington's Old North End. There was no 
shortage of roadblocks on that long road to winning the designation of 
Enterprise Community. I think that only John's unique mix of grass-
roots organizing skills, MIT professor's intelligence, and every day 
Vermonter common sense could have brought together all of the disparate 
groups involved to develop a plan for building a ``New'' North End 
where the ``Old" one stood before.
  There was little doubt in my mind that the project, under John's 
leadership, would succeed when I walked with HUD Secretary Cisneros 
down Archibald Street in the fall of 1994. Already there were signs of 
the changes to come, in particular the block long mural depicting 
neighborhood residents supporting the initiative, a mural John's family 
and many area residents worked on. One year later Secretary Cisneros 
walked down a very different Archibald Street in a very different 
neighborhood and pronounced Burlington's ``New'' North End the most 
advanced Enterprise Community he had visited.
  In December of 1994 when I was honored to announce that the Old North 
End in Burlington had been selected as an ``Enterprise Community'', 
John Davis was quick to attribute that success to the people of the Old 
North End saying ``The reason we won was not because of the problems. . 
. We won because of our assets.'' Well, John was most definitely one of 
those assets, as was the community enthusiasm, cooperative spirit, and 
sense of hope he helped to bring out in a part of the city that many 
had written off. That renewed spirit has continued to grow and will 
sustain the renewal of the New North End when John has moved on.
  I wish John the best of luck in whatever challenge he takes on next. 
I know his wife Bonnie Acker and his daughter Dia are looking forward 
to seeing more of him in the weeks ahead, but he will certainly be 
missed by those of us (and there are many) who have been lucky enough 
to work with John during his 10 years of service to the city and people 
of Burlington, VT.

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